SURVEY SAYS: Is Your Workplace Open Black Friday?

This week I asked readers if your workplace would be open the day after (a.k.a. “Black Friday).

Most (56.3%) said their workplace would NOT be open that day, and roughly one in five said that they would be open – “but with a skeleton crew.”   The rest, of course, simply said “yes”, though there were some in the “other” category, including the reader who said, ” This is a Canadian response – we had out Thanksgiving already in October, thank you.”

As for what readers would be doing – 9% said they would be in the office, 9.5% said they would be at work – for awhile, anyway, and another 5% said they would be at work – at least physically.   Still, that means that roughly 14% would be resting, 11% plan to be shopping, 4% will be traveling, nearly 11% will be visiting – and about 15% will be doing “more than one of the above.”  

Significantly, about one-in-five chose “other” – which ran the gamut of tasks from “entertaining others that have traveled, shopping online, eating, cleaning house, decorating the house, watching football, going to the ballet, putting up the Christmas tree/decorations, watching the kids participate in some kind of sporting event, nursing a hangover, and “…chasing my kids (school and daycare are closed, too).”  One said simply that they would be doing “Everything above that does not encompass work.”

Office Policies

A number of readers are “victims” of the stock market in such things.   As one reader noted, “If the market’s open, we’re open.”  Or, as another noted, “Our firm’s motto is “We are open when the market is open and we are open when the market is closed.” I don’t find that to be a very entertaining even though I’m supposed to say it with a smile.”   Or, as another said, “Sadly, we must be here in case some misguided individual wants to make a trade on a day that should be reserved for leisure and leftovers.”

There are, of course, beneficiaries of the traffic at the shopping “mauls.”   As one reader noted, “We are a retailer. Our Home Office will be closed, but our 1,000 plus stores will be living the nightmare that is working in a retail store the day after Thanksgiving.”  Another said simply, “We are in RETAIL – the day after Thanksgiving is known in our company as “Green Day”.

“It is wonderful to work for a company that gives us both days off. In the past I worked for companies that were open that day and nothing got done anyway and no one wanted to be there. It makes more sense to me to close and at least benefit from the good-will it generates,” noted one.

Official status notwithstanding, “We’re officially closed, but I know some freaks that will come to work,” noted one.   Another said, “We are officially closed, but I expect to get a call from my boss bright and early on Friday wondering why I’m not in the office.”

Another observed, “I used to be able to release my team early on the day before a holiday. However, since taking a state job, doing so would mean they all falsified their time sheets.”

One reader bemoaned the reality that “Yes, they took away the day after Thanksgiving by claiming that our clients are at work that day. Wrong! Most of them have the day off!”

One who had the day off said, “I wish my workplace were open though – my in-laws are coming.”

But this week’s Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said, “It will be dead, but we’ll be open since the market is open. For excitement that day we’ll be doing an office pool on the number of phone calls received.”

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!